A transgender woman from Australia has caused controversy by emerging as the winner of the Women’s Croquet World Championship.
Jamie Gumbrell, aged 23, clinched the top croquet trophy in Brighton, UK, by defeating Rachael Gee, the 2011 world champion and reigning European champion from England.
Despite being one of the youngest participants at the world championships, Gumbrell stirred up anger due to having competed as a male as recently as 2019.
Competing for the first time, Gumbrell secured the women’s title at the world championships held every four years.
Gumbrell, who was originally male, began identifying as a female when croquet activities resumed after the pandemic, as reported by the UK’s Telegraph.
Two years ago, the World Croquet Federation modified its transgender policy, allowing competitors to select the gender they consistently identify with.
According to the Telegraph, certain participants at the world championships were aware that they would be pitted against a biological male.
England’s Sue Lightbody stated, “There was a huge amount of disquiet. But nobody was prepared to say or do anything.”
“I was quite sick about the situation. We thought it would go against us, that we wouldn’t be picked for another team. Everything was hush-hush, everyone was worried about being called transphobic,” she added.
“People told me not to get involved, saying, ‘Don’t do anything, you’ll make yourself very unpopular.’ But this just shouldn’t happen. It fundamentally isn’t fair.”
The president of the WCF commented, “The fact that Jamie was assigned male at birth is not disputed by anyone. Jamie now identifies as female, and her entry into the world championship was determined in accordance with our policy, approved by our members in April 2021.”
Participants at the world championships believed Gumbrell had an unfair advantage due to experiencing male puberty before deciding to compete in the women’s division.
One player mentioned that Gumbrell’s opponent in the final, Rachael Gee, was in tears behind her sunglasses at the end of the competition.
There were multiple comments about Gumbrell on social media, including from former Liberal candidate and Sky News Australia contributor Katherine Deves.
“I apologize to the Women’s World Croquet Champion Rachel Gee for my fellow Australian, Jamie Gumbrell,” she wrote on X.
Another comment read, “The first known case of a women’s global title being awarded to a male. Australia’s Jamie Gumbrell, who was competing as a male in 2019. But, during the pandemic, he began identifying as female and in August became the women’s world champion at the first attempt.”
Gumbrell previously competed in Australia, winning the Under 21 Singles Championship in 2020 and claiming the Doubles Championship in 2019 and 2020 with Ethan Gumbrell.
